Traffic was snarled on the westbound lanes of Interstate 40 Tuesday afternoon due to a crash involving a van and a tractor-trailer.

Tennessee Highway Patrol reports said Melvin Dean Branson, 47, of Rockwood was driving a Roane Metals Group semi-truck loaded with shredded automobiles when he lost control of the rig while negotiating the curve at the westbound 347 exit at Harriman.

The truck lost control, tipped over and spilled its cargo onto the roadway.

A woman who said she was in need of a child’s car seat told Rockwood police that she was stalked by the man who helped her out.

Robert Bargy, the purported stalker, steadfastly denies the allegations, however.

The encounter happened on May 8 at the Rockwood Walmart.

“I spoke with Laura Lunsford who told me that she was needing a car seat for a 1-year-old,” officer Jared Hall wrote in the police report. “She said that Jerry Wells had asked on Facebook for help getting it.”

Roane County voters could head to the polls in November to decide whether the county will implement a $50 wheel tax to help fund the Board of Education’s $68 million school building plan, the County Commission decided on Monday.

For many Commissioners, putting the wheel tax on the ballot is a way to ensure voters have a say in the controversial $68 million plan.